To some, SL is just a game, a 3-D chat. If you believe the papers, SL Fashion is about making enough Lindens designing or modeling that you can quit your rl job. Some people view it as The Devil Wears Prada in a virtual world. If that were true I wouldn’t be here.

The stories that I hear at MODA don’t make the news. They are about people starting to feel good about themselves, about solitary people who find friendship, shy people who discover their voice and timid people gaining self confidence. For me, the MODA Modeling School offered a chance to stretch my wings and see if I could accomplish something I had never done: apply my creativity. In real life, I’m a consultant. I work with computer systems, with companies that grow and those that struggle. My job is analytical and very concrete, but I have always wondered what it would be like to be a Creative. Thanks to Jujudoll Dancer and the MODA team, I got my chance to be part of a collaborative group where everyone has a say and the only limits are what we can imagine together.

The stories of the other models at MODA are like mine. One is a consultant living in hotels, happy that she can visit her friends no matter what city she happens to be in. Another is a single mom, who has found a way to have some grown up fun while still looking after her baby at night.

MODA has not just changed my life for the better. It has helped me appreciate real fashion. OK, I have to tell you this story. My family went to an outdoor Shakespeare play in the park last September. Next to me were two women. The first one was sewing something from stuffed socks. I asked her, “Are you making one of those monkeys? I haven’t seen one in ages.” She said that any that I’d seen were probably hers because she couldn’t keep up with the demand from people wanting to buy them. I said, “You should make a grunge monkey, you know, all in black, with piercings.” The second woman chimed in with, “Or a designer monkey” and I said, “Yeah, like a Juicy Couture monkey.” The woman stopped and just looked at me, “How do you know about Juicy Couture?” She turned to my teenaged daughter, “Do you wear Juicy Couture?” My daughter shook her head. She said to me, “My father would never have known about Juicy Couture. What do you do, watch all the fashion shows?” I replied, “Would you believe that in another life, I’m a fashion model?” She shook her head, “A photographer maybe.”